Raven
by The Crazy Marshmallow
Summary: No one has a normal year at Hogwarts, and that includes one Tom Riddle. All of his years are filled with intrigue, danger, and Mary, an old friend of his.


**A/N I promised to start the revamp during winter break. It's still winter break for me... For those of you who are new, welcome and ignore this. I've decided just start from scratch. Well, not really from scratch, just replace everything and make it look prettier. If you have a yearning for the original, I have it saved so just ask. I apologize for my lack of quality.**

As always, reviews are appreciated!

A high pitched scream rang out in the early hours of the morning, effectively waking the entire Prewett household.

"MARY! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" shouted a brunette teenager, chasing after the whip of red hair that was his youngest sister. Cackling, she bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen where their mother was busy making breakfast.

"Mary, what did you do this time?" she asked sternly.

"Nothing, I just made sure Joseph was awake," the red-head said as she buttered a piece of toast.

"Ya, by jumping on me!" the older boy retorted, picking up a piece of toast for himself.

"That was you screaming, Joseph?" came a feminine voice from the stairwell," I thought that was Mary, shouldn't your voice have dropped yet?" Joseph stuck his tongue out at his sister before shoving the piece of toast into his mouth.

"Don't be so hard on Joseph, Faith, I'd be scared if the first thing I saw in the morning was Mary's hair." Mary made an indignant noise and threw a half buttered slice of toast at her eldest sister, Grace.

"Calm down, today is a big day!" their mother said noncommittally.

"Sorry, mother," the chorused as their father walked in with a bright smile.

"Oh dear, all ready in trouble? And on such an important day?" he commented jovially.

"Is that today?" a voice yawned from the doorway, "I must have forgotten. I haven't even packed!"

"Mark!" Mary whined from her chair. He chuckled.

"Only kidding, baby sis."

"Good," their father said lightly. "Wouldn't want to make Mary late for her first year at Hogwarts."

* * *

Tom Riddle woke to the sound of a crying infant. It was a sound he was quite used to by now, but no less annoyed by. He sat up and went to his dresser. What should he wear?Not that he had many choices. He didn't want to wear the clothes the orphanage gave him around wizards, but he also didn't want to wear his robes out in the streets of London. He decided to wear his regular clothes and change into his robes as soon as possible.

Once dressed, he grabbed the trunk he had obtained at Diagon Alley from the orphanage, not even bothering to say goodbye to Mrs. Cole.

* * *

The Prewett family arrived at King's Cross Station with the ease of a family with years of practice. They made it onto Platform 9 ¾ smoothly and had started to say goodbye to their parents.

"Are you sure you have everything? Books? Quills? Wands?" their mother was saying as she gave her children hugs. They all murmured in general assent.

"If you get there and you need anything just owl us. We'll send it right along," their father added, looking around the crowded platform erratically.

"Yes, alright, can we go now?" Mark said, already waving at his friends.

"I guess so," their mother replied as they dispersed. "And take care of your sister!" she yelled after them.

Mary bounded towards the nearest door, her trunk swinging along behind her. She heaved it onto the train and went in search of an empty compartment, which she soon found. They had arrived fairly early and the train was mostly empty. She plopped down next to the window and pulled her wand out of her pocket.

Her very own wand. She had gotten it the previous week at Diagon Alley. Pine and Dragon Heartstring. She had stared at it plenty but hadn't been able to use it. Until today. Today she was finally going to Hogwarts. She had been waiting for this day her entire life. She hoped it would be everything she had dreamed of. Her sisters and brother had certainly said it was a magical place. She couldn't wait to get there. To learn spells; to wander the castle; to spend a lazy afternoon lounging on the grounds.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a boy opening the door.

"Hello," he said hesitantly, "can I sit there?" he pointed at the seat across from Mary. She nodded, smiling. He sat down with a thump. "Are you a first year?" he asked.

"Yes," she held out her hand, "I'm Mary. It's nice to meet you."

"Daniel, nice to meet you as well." They shook hands. "Do you have any idea what we're getting into?" Daniel asked as he ran a hand through his blond hair.

"At Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"Do you not know?"

"Up until a few weeks ago I didn't have any idea there was a wizarding world." Marry smiled even wider.

"You're a muggleborn!" she exclaimed. She had always wanted to meet someone brought up in the muggle world.

"Er- sure? What's a muggleborn?"

"It's someone who with non-magic parents. Hogwarts is a school. We're going to be taught magic!"

"Oh, I know that- it's just that someone asked me earlier what House I wanted to be in? What did they mean?"

"I'd like to know that too," a smooth voice voice announced from the door as the train jerked forward. "May I sit?" the dark haired boy asked. Daniel and Mary nodded. "My name is Tom."

"Daniel."

"Mary. Are you muggleborn too?"

"I don't know," Daniel and Mary gave him a questioning look. "I grew up in an orphanage."

"Oh," Mary said awkwardly. "Well there are four Houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. You get Sorted into their out the Sorting Ceremony based on your traits by the Sorting Hat. Gryffindor for brave, Ravenclaw for smart, Hufflepuff for loyal, and Slytherin for cunning."

"And which is the best?" Tom asked, sitting forward in his chair.

"None of them sound any better than the others," Daniel said, looking slightly worried.

"Gryffindor is the best, in my opinion. And Slytherin is by far the worst. All the great dark wizards came out of Slytherin. And they're all about pureblood and such nonsense. All of my siblings are in Gryffindor."

"What pureblood nonsense?" Daniel asked, looking more and more worried by the moment.

"Slytherins just seem to think that wizards who have two magical parents are better than everyone else. It's a tradition passed down from the founder of the House who didn't want to admit muggleborns into the school. But don't worry, the Sorting Hat probably won't Sort you two into Slytherin. I'm sure whatever House you're in will treat you right." Daniel looked comforted by this, but Tom looked intrigued.

"These dark wizards, were they powerful? More powerful than wizards who are not dark?" he asked.

"Well, Grindelwald is pretty powerful, and he's been doing a pretty good job taking over Europe, but I don't know about more powerful than other wizards. There are some pretty powerful wizards who weren't involved in the dark arts." Mary replied.

"Who's Grindelwald?" Tom pressed.

"He's a wizard from somewhere in Europe who's trying to take over everything," Mary replied arily. "I don't know much about it, he hasn't tried invading England yet." Tom didn't respond. After a moment Daniel spoke.

"Invade? Do you mean like a war? Wizards have wars?"

"Of course wizards have wars. Anyplace with a government is bound to have wars. Wizards are just more discreet with our violence." Daniel's eyes bulged.

"Wizards have a government?"

"Who do you think is responsible for the gold you used to get your school supplies?"

"I thought it was the goblins," Daniel said sheepishly. At that moment, a witch pushing a trolley filled with sweets pushed open the door.

"Anything off the trolley?" she asked with a smile. Tom declined, but Mary carefully picked out a few chocolate frogs and other choice sweets while Daniel ogled the cart for a good long while before choosing the candies he thought looked the most enticing.

Mary offered to share with Tom, but he politely refused, stating that he wasn't hungry. Daniel and Mary continued to talk for the rest of the ride, Tom only interjecting twice to ask a question. All too soon the train jerked to a stop and the three first years disembarked.

Mary looked at her surroundings. They were at Hogsmeade station. There were students coming from everywhere. A mass of black only differentiated by hair and skin color. Mary began looking for the groundskeeper. Faith had mentioned that he was the one to take them to the boats and across the lake. She soon found him, a tall and skinny man, yelling for the first years. She made her way over to him along with a number of her year-mates.  
Once all of them had been mustered, the man led them to the edge of a lake. He didn't say much of anything as they made it to the boats. Tom, Daniel, Mary, and a mousy looking girl all piled into the nearest boat. Once all the students had found a seat, the boats lurched forward and onto the lake.

As they set off across the lake, Hogwarts castle became visible in the distance. Hogwarts. Mary looked to her sides. Both Daniel and Tom were awestruck by the magnificence that was Hogwarts castle. The lights reflected onto the lake, which was lit by the full moon. Mary's smile widened as they approached the castle. She was finally going to Hogwarts!

After what seemed like an eternity of admiring the castle, the boats finally pulled into a cave beneath the castle and the students were told to leave the boats and were ushered into a small room next to a big set of doors she could only assume led to the Great Hall. A tall man with a brown beard walked in.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said "I am Professor Dumbledore. In a few moments, you will be Sorted into four Houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. When you are Sorted, you will kindly go and sit at the corresponding table. Not to worry, they table you sit at will be the table that cheers the loudest." His eyes twinkled, "Now, on to the Sorting!"

Marylooked around the hall as she entered it. She was in awe. She had heard he brothers and sisters talking about it, but she could never have imagined the splendor of it. It was two or three stories high with a ceiling that looked out to the sky. I was amazing. Professor Dumbledore was leading them to stand up in the front of the Great Hall. When they got to the front of the magnificent room, he began to speak.

"When I call your name, you will come up and sit on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be Sorted into your houses. Then if you will please go and sit at the appropriate table." He smiled at them. She glanced over at Tom, he seemed calm, only slightly interested. The majority of the first years looked nervous. Mary was as well, but only slightly. She was bound to get into Gryffindor with the rest of her family. Of course, if she was Sorted into Slytherin, she would probably just leave. Mary started to feel more nervous. What if she got into Slytherin? Her siblings would never speak to her again.

Professor Dumbledore started to call students up. Mary watched, only half paying attention. She noted when Daniel was Sorted into Gryffindor and when the mousy girl from the boat was Sorted into Ravenclaw. Suddenly, her name was called.

She stumbled up to the stool and the Professor placed the Hat gently on her head, covering her eyes completely.

_Ahh, interesting. A Slytherin brought up Gryffindor._

_What?_ Mary thought earnestly. Even a mention of Slytherin at this stage spelt danger.

_Best put you where you were born to be._ "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat shouted before she had any time to dispute.  
**  
**


End file.
